In this project, I am only using a piece of ivory thick cotton, a metal palette knife and a selection of acrylic paints – also a heat tool to dry my layers in between, just because I’m not patient enough to wait for things to dry…

I did not prime the fabric with gesso to start with, as I wanted to experiment painting acrylics directly onto the fabric. I realised that the paint was soaking more rapidly than if I had primed my surface beforehand, which gave me limited time with playing and moving my paints. But I was not particularly bothered with that.
That’s the whole point of experimenting – learning what you like and what you don’t, and re-using the techniques to your advantage in later projects.

As usual, I worked very intuitively on this piece, even though I had gathered my colours beforehand.

Using a palette knife was also very experimental for me, as I rarely paint with these. I would use my Catalyst wedge or an old plastic card to spread paint, but not to create. I really enjoyed it and will definitely use it again – I just need to get a proper studio easel.

I will probably keep this piece for a journal cover – I just need to think about what kind of journal I want to create for this one…